


Navy and Emerald Silk

by catgirldeathgrips



Category: Monster High
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, deuce is fucking pining bro, idk these fuckers are dumb, implied nsfw, might be a little spicy but not anything over the top
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:14:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28549185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catgirldeathgrips/pseuds/catgirldeathgrips
Summary: Deuce is crushing hard on Jackson into adulthood, and Jackson seems to avoid dating like the plague.in other words these dumbasses are denser than solid conk creat and can't see that they're literally both pining for each other.(to sum it up: and they were roommates!)
Relationships: Deuce Gorgon/Jackson Jekyll
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so this is set like six years after the actual story so p much they're all like in their 20s and in an apartment n shit. jackson probably does all the adult stuff tbh. anyways yeah enjoy maybe idk

Jackson combs his fingers through his hair, doing his best to straighten out any flyaways he could have missed. Looking himself over in the mirror, he surprisingly feels pretty confident. It isn't usual he visibly grins at how attractive he thinks he looks, but the unwarranted ego boost feels rather nice.

Jackson, as well as the other four mansters he lives with, are going to go to a bar for Heath's twenty first, but 'not just any piss poor joint, The-motherfucking-Crypt', circa Clawd a day previous. Apparently The Crypt is some crazy expensive monster bar Jackson's lived his entire life being blissfully ignorant of. Parties are Holt's thing, not his, and because whenever Holt comes out it usually ends in a misdemeanor charge, Jackson would rather not go anywhere crazy loud regardless. Besides, he's not a big drinker in general.

But Heath is his cousin and so long as the music is below a certain volume, he could avoid a lawsuit. 

Jackson pulls a rolled tie from a thin drawer, choosing a lovely deep blue to go with the sky colored vest he'd chosen and seamlessly knotting it into a Windsor, his personal favorite way to wear a tie, and inspects his outfit once more. Everything looks perfectly fine, now all he has to do is ask everyone else if they're ready. Thankfully he ends up saving his breath since Deuce is at his door as soon as it's opened, in preparation to knock.

"Hey-- uh, dude-- I was just about to… um," Jackson's puzzled, Deuce looks bashful? He can't tell fully because of the accursed shades, but there's a pink tint on his cheeks that is barely visible.

"Are you okay?"

"I need a favor," Deuce avoids Jackson's gaze, ashamed to need to ask this, but nobody else can help him.

"Can you… tie my tie?" 

Jackson raises his eyebrows as he just now notices that Deuce's tie is slung over top of his shoulders in a strip of silky, emerald fabric.

"Yeah, of course, what kinda knot do you want?" 

Deuce furrows his brows in confusion, feeling a slight spark when Jackson's fingers brush his shoulders to grab the tie, which he promptly ignores.

"There are different ones?"

Jackson's chuckles, but it's soft and breathy, void of any mockery and almost as though Jackson was laughing to himself and Deuce just so happened to hear it. It's a kind sounding laugh, and Deuce wants to hear it again.

"Let's do a simple Kelvin," Jackson effortlessly threads the piece of fabric around itself, never faltering, never once making a single mistake, his dexterous fingers all moving in a perfect harmony, so used to doing something Deuce had never learned.

"You're good at tying knots," Deuce observes, underselling his own admiration. Jackson, humble as ever, shrugs.

"I've been doing it since I was like, twelve," Jackson starts, "the middle school I went to was really prestigious, and we had these uniforms with a really strict code, you couldn't even wear a sweater over your shirt unless it was one that was a certain color," Deuce is growing ever more amused as Jackson recalls the tale. "so, my idea to combat this? Learn every weird and obscure knot to tie since there's no, you know, tie code, utter anarchy, I know," He snickers at his own joke, "'Course I don't think anyone noticed and Holt ended up nearly burning our school down trying to cook a bagel bite with a lighter so we got expelled from that place, still though it's a cool thing to know,"

"I mean it's a lot more than what I already knew, so don't sell yourself too short,"

Jackson laughs, rolling his eyes as he finishes the tie. "Yeah, you know, first thing I mention on every date, 'Hey ladies, I can tie knots you've never seen nor will you likely have any use for, but I can't swallow pills even though I'm twenty two years old, please please, try to keep your hands off me,'"

At the mention of their dry dating lives, the two men couldn't help but laugh. Dating app through dating app, nothing seemed to stick until they both gave up a month in. Being the only two single people living in their small apartment was a little odd since it never felt like they fit into the conversations Clawd, Heath, and Gil had together when it came to their girlfriends, so they got shafted into being uncomfortable bystanders. They never said anything, but Draculaura practically living at their apartment, Heath pretty much living at Abby's, and Gil's constant moping about how even temporary long distance sucks did get a bit old to the two of them after quite some time. Funny thing is that this ended in Deuce and Jackson talking a lot more, which occasionally turned to flirting if they mixed in whatever inebriating substance they had stashed.

The only problem Deuce has with this is it ended in him being actually, genuinely attracted to Jackson. He's unsure if Jackson reciprocates this, it's definitely possible but he isn't about to get his hopes up. 

"Speaking of which, have you been on any recently?" Deuce pipes up, chanting the word _subtlety_ in his mind like a mantra.

Jackson looks up, unbothered by the question. "Me? No, work and college were kicking my ass, never made the time to," Jackson had just finished his finals for his Monster Normie Relations classes, and took every opportunity to say he now had a Bachelor's in the subject. Deuce can't lie though, he's infinitely proud of him. 

"I think you should make the time to, you've definitely earned it," Jackson shifts his gaze back to his mirror, turning so his body is faced away from Deuce. 

It's impossible for him to deny that Jackson's habit of dressing sharp really does him justice. The ties and dress shirts make him look tasteful and elegant whereas the vests and slacks tend to show off his better… assets. 

Deuce kicks himself for staring at Jackson for way longer than he should've. 

"To be honest, I'm not sure I'm really interested in that kind of thing at all right now," Deuce tries to focus on Jackson's words, but his eyes are drawn to his hands, readjusting his tie. He notices that the tie is a deep shade of navy, with the same grey undertones as Jackson's eyes. Was that deliberate or is Deuce just over analyzing?

"Any reason why?" 

Jackson opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off from a shout across the apartment from the birthday boy.

"Are you guys coming or what?!" 

Jackson groans, annoyed but is also secretly thankful he was interrupted.

"The bar isn't even open yet, Heath, settle down!" He shouts back at his cousin, rolling his eyes once he passes Deuce. "Let's talk about this a bit later," Jackson kisses the tip of Deuce's nose, "okay?" 

By the time Deuce even realizes what just happened, Jackson's already at the doorway, calm as can be. Thank god Deuce isn't a fire elemental, otherwise they'd end up having to call the fire department for the fourth time this month. It's definitely a huge problem when nearly all the firefighters know an entire apartment of college students by name.

Deuce just forces himself to calm down as he walks to put his shoes on, praying that everyone else was too excited to get hammered to even pay attention to him


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took way too fuckin long

Considering nobody had established who the designated driver was going to be, Jackson ended up with that job. He normally did anyways, and honestly he usually didn't have the biggest problem with this, but he's currently kicking himself over the sudden spark of boldness he'd felt a couple hours earlier.

That, and he and Deuce being unable to stop stealing glances at one another from across the bar.

If they're lucky, nobody else noticed.

The cards actually seem to be in their favor tonight since Clawd, Heath, and Gill are each too hammered to notice anything beyond nausea and, in Heath's case, deep regret. 

"God, Jackson, why didn't you stop me?" Heath whines as he uses his cousin as a crutch all the way back to his car.

"Believe me firenuts, I tried to," Jackson grumbles under his breath, praying to lady luck Heath doesn't puke on him.

Clawd and Gill currently are running ahead, seemingly oblivious to Heath's misery. Deuce yells half hearted warnings with his hands fisted in his pants pockets.

Finally, they all make it back to the car, Jackson slumping into the drivers and Deuce sitting beside him.

"Jesus Christ," Jackson rests his head on the steering wheel, absolutely exhausted. At heart, he's an introvert. Busy places tire him out and he just wants to head home and preferably fall asleep to The Mentalist again.

"In firenuts' defense, we weren't really trying too hard to stop him," Deuce pipes up amused. Jackson can't help but deliver a tired sounding chuckle in response and Deuce can feel a grin forming.

"Let's just get the fuck home," Jackson sits up and starts the ignition, pulling out of the parking lot and seeking the nearby highway. 

"Did you drink at all?" Jackson asks, noting Deuce's composure.

"Not as much as those three, birthday boy is kinda understandable since, you know, he's of age now. I'm kinda buzzed though, I guess," Deuce shrugs, fiddling with the knot in his tie once more. The thought of taking it off fills him with a weird, hollow sadness. He brushes it off the second it arrives, he's not about to get upset over a fucking tie knot.

"Trust me, legality has nothing to do with it, it's definitely not Heath's first time drinking, and it sure as hell won't be the last time he overdoes it,"

Heath mutters a response, but it's muffled by Clawd's shoulder. Jackson grins silently knowing it probably wasn't a very good comeback anyway, but he lets Heath fall asleep thinking he's had the last word. 

Jackson and Deuce sit in silence for a short while until the three backseaters can be heard snoring deeply.

"So, um, earlier," Deuce begins, choking on his words as they leave his mouth. Jackson sighs, he could see this coming from a million miles away, but that didn't stop the dread.

"Was it weird?" He asks, glancing at Deuce for a second with half lidded eyes. 

"I was surprised, but I definitely didn't hate it," 

Jackson can't help but laugh when he says this.

_What a Deuce way to phrase things._

"I'm glad then," Jackson takes another breath, staring straight ahead when the traffic light in front of him turns from yellow to red. 

The two seem to be on the same wavelength when they're pulled together once more. Neither are sure what it is or why they're magnetically drawn to one another. Hell, Jackson is _driving_ , he shouldn't be making out with Deuce right now in the first place, but he doesn't seem to want to stop. 

Jackson actually _can't_ seem to stop himself when he grabs Deuce's tie and tugs gently, biting on his bottom lip and pulling away for a brief second, face flushed a deep red. It feels almost as though his body is just doing this on his own since he normally wouldn't have nearly enough confidence to do this without alcohol. Maybe it's a new development, maybe it's a fluke. Should he care? He can't find it in himself to. 

"Damn," Deuce laughs, trying to cover up his own nerves, "sure you're not drunk?" 

"I'm not a glutton for DUIs, smartass," Jackson rolls his eyes with a smug grin.

He goes to kiss Jackson once more, purely to give him a taste of his own medicine, of course, that is, until a car behind theirs honks a couple of times.

With a quiet string of giggled curses, Jackson puts his hands back on the wheel and drives ahead, both him and Deuce laughing as quietly as they can.

"Let's head home first," Jackson mumbles, clearing his throat. "prefer not to piss off the entire _New Salem_ graveyard shift drivers,"

"I'd also prefer _not_ to be rear ended,"

"You were into it, shut up," Jackson smacks his arm gently, which gets Deuce laughing once again. 

"Yeah, can't argue with you there," Deuce feels his chest grow weirdly tight upon fiddling with his tie once more. 

How the fuck does Jackson always have this much of an effect on him? Who the hell knows or cares, the brief makeout session with his roommate was fucking amazing and he can hardly wait until they get home.

Just another half hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that y'all waited so long. i might edit and re-upload this chapter since i can't decide if i hate it or not idk.


End file.
